The article starts by locating both the author and men in relation to feminism as an identity, which cuts across the public–private divide. It then attempts to illuminate the meaning of ‘being feminist’ by addressing three, tightly interwoven, issues. First is the question: what is the ‘woman’ who is the subject of feminism? The second section discusses the nature of feminism in its various guises, focusing mainly on feminism in Britain since the late 1960s. It engages with the notions of ‘post-feminism’, ‘global sisterhood’ and a ‘third wave’. Finally, the article analyses critically feminism's uneasy relationship with identity politics.
The Politics of Identity is an on-going series edited by Richard Bellamy.
The author would like to thank the series editor, Richard Bellamy, and also Valerie Bryson, Jim Kincaid and Angela McRobbie for their helpful comments on the first draft.
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